The present invention concerns an arrangement for the retention of an implement to a lifting gear, in particular to a front loader, where the implement and the lifting gear are provided with openings that can be brought into alignment with each other which accept locking components that can be inserted into the openings at retention points spaced at a distance from each other.
A lifting gear, such as a boom of a front loader, is provided at one end with various operating implements or tools for universal applications. For example, an earth scoop, a manure fork, a bale fork or a pallet fork could be used. In order to keep the time for the assembly and disassembly of these implements as short as possible, pin connections are provided.
This type of connection is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,249 which reveals a connection arrangement with a pin on each side of the lifting gear or its implement support which are inserted into openings in the lifting arms and the implement that are aligned with each other and thereby locks these to each other. Each of the pins is preloaded into its locking position by means of a spring and is in contact with a lever arm at a stop in the unlocked position. After the implement has been engaged by hooks it is tilted in such a way that the lever arm is pushed away from the stop and is forced into the opening under the force of the spring.
This arrangement has the disadvantage that an operator must remove a pin on each side in order to disassemble the implement.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,477 reveals a locking arrangement of a front loader implement on a boom, in which hooks provided on each side encircle a fixed pin and are actuated by a common shaft. However, here a different method is used to lock the implement.
Finally it is known practice in utility vehicles (DE-OS-39 24 313 and Great Britain Patent No. 21 82 834) to use a pivot lever with two lever arms each of which is connected at a joint to a pin, so that both pins can be brought into the locked or the unlocked position by a single pivoting motion of the pivot lever. The pivot lever is retained at a detent under spring force and is automatically disengaged as a result of the tilting of the implement, so that it reaches the locked position.
This arrangement has the disadvantage that the pivot lever in each case extends between the two arms of the lifting crank and hence is poorly accessible.